Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday after nearly a year of no communication between the two. Netanyahu, according to Kan, discussed the situation in the region with Zelenskyy and also raised the issue of tens of thousands of Israelis traveling to Uman for Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year). The pilgrimage is typically led by the Breslov Hasidic sect, who come to visit the tomb of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov.
Earlier that day, the U.S. State Department advised U.S. citizens not to travel to Uman for Rosh Hashanah due to ongoing fighting in Ukraine.
On August 29, the families of the hostages used loudspeakers to call their still-held relatives: they broke through the fence, running toward the Gaza border in a desperate attempt to get as close as possible to their relatives. They were stopped by the IDF.
According to unconfirmed media reports, Hamas is losing control of smaller terror groups in Gaza, the Jewish Chronicle reported on Wednesday, citing Israeli military sources.
Some of the smaller organizations, such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Mujahideen Brigades, the al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, have opted out and are no longer following the instructions of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. These groups are holding an unknown number of hostages.
The Jewish Chronicle also reported that smaller terror groups in Gaza have been plotting a “coup” for months, due to their deep disagreements with Sinwar over the proposed ceasefire-prisoner swap deal.
Among the disagreements are Hamas’s insistence on prioritizing the release of its members over that of other groups and the groups’ demand for equal representation in the deal.
The smaller groups also oppose any compromise with Israel, insisting that any deal include the release of all convicted terrorists currently serving sentences in Israeli prisons.
Commenting on the West Bank operations, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said that “Expanding the objectives of the war on the Lebanon front is obvious and Netanyahu has confirmed this several times.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant echoed him: “We need to expand the objectives of the war and I will present this to the Prime Minister, as the mission in the north is not over yet (…) I have approved a plan for the army, starting next week, to strengthen procedures in the southern and northern settlements (…) We will increase the deployment of forces in the northern and southern settlements to ensure the movement of students.”
According to a poll published by the Jerusalem Post, and carried out by the Misgav Institute: 49% of reserve soldiers believe that the Israeli Chief of Staff should resign; while Haaretz states from IDF sources that “security coordination with the Palestinian National Authority has not been damaged as a result of the army’s major operation in the West Bank”
Israeli media: German airline Lufthansa announces suspension of flights to and from Tel Aviv until September 4.
In the EU, Josep Borrell took the floor: “The European Union will organize a high-level meeting on the situation in the Middle East. More than 85% of the population of Gaza must be displaced, and the situation there is horrible, and humanitarian workers are being killed (…) The activities of the United Nations have been suspended and the amount of humanitarian aid arriving in July is the lowest since the beginning of the war”.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also made his voice heard: “Syria’s position is firm on the issue of the Arab-Israeli conflict (…) The chaos created by the United States of America has increased instability in the world (…) Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” must be seen in the context of the Palestinian question and not as an emergency event on the ground”.
Of interest is an interview given by a member of the Hamas political bureau, Hossam Badran, to Al-Mayadeen: “The occupied West Bank participated in the “Al-Aqsa Flood” with maximum effort from the first days (…) The resistance operations in the West Bank have developed recently and their strength has accumulated, which has become a source of concern for the Occupation (Israel, ed.). The resistance in the occupied West Bank enjoys unparalleled national consensus despite the prices paid (…) There is a Palestinian decision to expand operations in the West Bank in terms of their spread and type (…) Israel is planning to end the resistance in the West Bank, but these attempts have failed, especially because most of those resisting are young people (…) The resistance factions are working with clear visions and plans to increase the pace of resistance work, including in the West Bank (…) Hamas’ position on the negotiation dossier is not only its position, and it is in constant coordination with the resistance factions.
The Americans are trying to suggest that an agreement is close for their interests (…) Netanyahu is not able to get everything he wants, and he has not been able to achieve any progress in Gaza other than massacres. Continuing negotiations does not hinder our resistance work, and our goal is clear and we seek to achieve it through various paths”
And now a look at the different fronts updated at 19:00 on August 29 .
Most of Hamas’ battalions and brigades in the Gaza Strip have been defeated, Israeli Defense Minister Gallant said. But according to the Al-Quds Brigades: “In the second phase, our forces conducted major operations that changed the course of the battle, especially the deadly ambushes in Jenin and Tulkarm,” echoed by the Al-Qassam: “Our mujahideen managed to detonate more than 10 land-based bombs against invading occupation vehicles (…) our mujahideen continue to clash with the occupation forces penetrating Jenin and Tulkarm.”
According to Al Jazeera: “A number of Israeli soldiers and snipers were deployed in the vicinity of the Nour Shams camp in Tulkarm, in conjunction with the vehicle incursion (…) expanding their operations to include the city and its camp.”
According to a number of local websites, there have been power cuts in some neighborhoods inside the Jenin camp due to Israeli bulldozers deliberately hitting electricity poles.”
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades – Qalqilya also claimed clashes there: “Our fighters are engaged in fierce clashes with enemy forces who are storming the city of Qalqilya with machine guns and explosive devices.”
According to the IDF, its troops continued operational activity in the Rafah area of the southern Gaza Strip. One of the targets eliminated in the Khan Yunis area was Osama Jadallah, commander of the Islamic Jihad intelligence unit who took part in the events of October 7.
The IDF and ISA later said they completed a counter-terrorism operation in the Far’a area of the Jordan Valley.
Going to the Lebanese border, the Islamic Resistance says: “We targeted buildings used by occupation soldiers in the settlement of “Al-Manara” in response to the Israeli attack on Kafr Kila.
In Yemen, Ansar Allah claims “the operation to attack and burn the Greek ship “Sounion” in the Red Sea because of its violation of the transit ban.
The British Maritime Trade Operations Authority says there are “reports of interference with the Global Navigation System (GPS) off the coast of Iran” which would raise fears of an attack on Israel but the Pentagon denies to the BBC: “We have not issued any warning of an imminent Iranian attack on Israel within 24-48 hours”.
Follow our updates on Geopolitical Gleanings – Spigolature geopolitiche: https://t.me/agc_NW and on our blog The Gleanings of AGCNEWS – Le Spigolature di AGCNEWS: https://spigolatureagcnews.blogspot.com/s
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
